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did you yield for forty years? did you not serve the Babylonians for seventy? did not Shalmaneser resettle you in the mountains of the Chaldeans? and in no way did necessity change your minds? Stiff-necked people, whom the basket of Egypt did not tame, whom the burden of straw did not soften, whom the violence of brick-making did not bend. Then, 59.508 having heard these words, They cast him out of the city and stoned him. Where they crucified the king, there they also cast stones at the soldier. And casting him out of the city, they stoned him. But even after the throwing of stones the champion accepted victories, and used such a voice to the Creator: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

Lord Jesus, who by the will of the Father accepted suffering, who by the counsel of the one who begot you endured death, receive my spirit. Separate therefore the soul from the body, transfer the bodiless one, receive my spirit crowned with all kinds of virtues, receive my spirit; For I have finished the race, I have kept the faith; therefore I ask, receive my spirit. For as long as I am clothed in this corruptible body, I am afraid; as long as I wear this earthly flesh, I fear, lest after labors I lose the labors; I am dizzy, lest after the struggle I remain uncrowned, lest after the contests I lose the prizes. Receive then my spirit. Therefore the devil will mourn, as having lost the victory; the author of evil will lament, as not having prevailed against a mortal; let the bodiless ones wail, because those in the body laugh at their sufferings. Receive my spirit. And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And that you may learn that he prays with earnestness, he does not simply pray, standing and nodding, but kneeling down, he said with compunction, with much sympathy: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And having said these things, he fell asleep. For death is sleep to the righteous, the state of death is rest to the wise. For this reason death is a sleep, so that just as being awakened from a deep sleep in the resurrection, they may enjoy eternal goods; may it be that we all partake of them, by the grace and mediation of Christ, through whom be glory to the Father in the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, as from the beginning, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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τεσσαράκοντα ὑπείξατε ἔτεσιν; οὐχὶ ἑβδομήκοντα τοῖς Βαβυλωνίοις ἐδουλεύσατε; οὐχὶ Σαλμανασὰρ ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰ ὄρη μετῴκισε Χαλδαίων; καὶ οὐδαμοῦ ἀνάγκη μεταβάλλουσα τὰς γνώμας ὑμῶν; Σκληροτράχηλοι, οὓς ὁ κόφινος οὐκ ἐδάμασεν Αἰγύπτου, οὓς οὐκ ἐμάλαξε τῶν ἀχύρων τὸ ἄχθος, οὓς οὐκ ἔκαμψε τῆς πλινθουργίας ἡ βία. Εἶτα, 59.508 τούτων τῶν φωνῶν ἐπακούσαντες, Ἐκβαλόντες αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐλιθοβόλουν. Ἔνθα τὸν βασιλέα ἐσταύρωσαν, ἐκεῖ καὶ τὸν στρατιώτην βάλλουσι λίθοις. Καὶ ἐκβαλόντες αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐλιθοβόλουν. Ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ λίθων βολὰς ὁ ἀγωνιστὴς ἀνεδέξατο νίκας, καὶ τοιαύτῃ φωνῇ πρὸς τὸν Κτίστην ἐκέχρητο· Κύριε Ἰησοῦ, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου.

Κύριε Ἰησοῦ, ὁ γνώμῃ Πατρὸς ἀναδεξάμενος πάθος, ὁ βουλῇ τοῦ τεκόντος θάνατον ὑπομείνας, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου. Χώρισον λοιπὸν τοῦ σώματος τὴν ψυχὴν, τὴν ἀσώματον μετάστησον, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἀρεταῖς κατεστεμμένον παντοίαις, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου· Τὸν γὰρ δρόμον τετέλεκα, τὴν πίστιν τετήρηκα· διὸ αἰτοῦμαι, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου. Ἐν ὅσῳ γὰρ περίκειμαι τὸ φθαρτὸν σῶμα, δειλιῶ· ἐν ὅσῳ φορῶ τὴν γηΐνην σάρκα, φοβοῦμαι, μὴ μετὰ πόνους ἀπολέσω τοὺς πόνους· ἰλιγγιῶ, μὴ μετὰ πάλην ἀστεφάνωτος μείνω, μὴ μετὰ τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἀπολέσω τὰ βραβεῖα. ∆έξαι οὖν τὸ πνεῦμά μου. Πενθήσῃ λοιπὸν ὁ διάβολος, ὡς ἀπολέσας τὴν νίκην· θρηνήσῃ ὁ ἀρχέκακος, ὡς πρὸς θνητὸν μὴ ἐξισχύσας· ὀδυρέσθωσαν οἱ ἀσώματοι, ὅτι οἱ ἐν σώματι γελῶσι τὰ πάθη. ∆έξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου. Θεὶς δὲ τὰ γόνατα, ἔκραξε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ· Κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς, ὅτι μετὰ σπουδῆς εὔχεται, οὐχ ἁπλῶς εὔχεται, ἑστὼς καὶ κατανευόμενος, ἀλλὰ Θεὶς τὰ γόνατα, εἶπε μετὰ κατανύξεως, μετὰ πολλῆς συμπαθείας· Κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην. Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἐκοιμήθη. Ὕπνος γὰρ τοῖς δικαίοις ὁ θάνατος, ἀνάπαυσις τοῖς σοφοῖς ἡ νέκρωσις. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ὕπνος ὁ θάνατός ἐστιν, ἵνα ὥσπερ ἐκ κάρου τινὸς ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει διεγερθέντες, τῶν αἰωνίων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύσωσιν· ὧν γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς μεταλαβεῖν, χάριτι καὶ μεσιτείᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι' οὗ δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ τῷ παρακλήτῳ, ὡς ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.